Chapter Ninety: The Fiery Battlefield

In the first-floor lobby, a full set of sofas and tea service had also been arranged, specially for receiving guests, though this was the first time it had ever been used.

The four of them sat down together, and the bodyguard girl brought in a pot of hot tea.

"Captain Fang, I'll get straight to the point."

Fang Xia gestured for him to continue and lifted his teacup.

Brewing a pot of tea was no easy matter. They had to light a fire and boil the water in a pot; it would be a waste not to make use of it.

"Since we've chosen to follow you, that means we trust you. But the division of labor for tonight still has to be explained to the brothers in advance, or they won't feel settled."

Fang Xia said nothing. He glanced at Liu Rui beside him.

The two captains' gazes followed his to Liu Rui.

"It's like this. Tonight, we're planning to reactivate the battlefield we used before. A few days ago, because the zombies were too strong and our manpower was insufficient, we had to pull back to Captain Fang's courtyard."

"Now that the two captains have joined us, we can bring it back into use. It will greatly improve combat efficiency, and we can support one another."

"Besides, the old fighting positions happened to be built against the wall. Each team can take responsibility for one direction. If any level-four zombie appears, our people will naturally deal with it. You two captains needn't worry."

As the overall commander of the nightly battles, Liu Rui had long since thought through all these matters. She was only voicing them now.

"And what about the spoils?"

"Each team clears the zombies in its own sector after the battle. The last wave's level-three and level-four zombies go to us."

Fang Xia's tone left no room for discussion.

During the zombie assault, level-three zombies would appear as well, though not in great numbers, and Fang Xia's team could not possibly help with them.

But when the level-four zombie made its move, roughly twenty level-three zombies would usually attack alongside it. That was the real prize.

Lu Dezhi and Zheng Fakun exchanged a glance, then both nodded.

Before coming, they had already decided that Fang Xia's team would certainly need to take some of the glory.

As long as they were only taking the final wave's level-three zombies, it was still acceptable.

"Pleasant cooperation. Let's keep going farther together in this apocalypse."

On the first day of cooperation, Fang Xia personally came to the battlefield as well.

And those two teams, as if injected with chicken blood, performed with astonishing fervor.

If one ignored the casualty count and looked only at appearances, Fang Xia even felt those two teams might have been, on average, level-three fighters.

In truth, many among them were still only level-one fighters.

Maybe this was the power of hormones.

Although Fang Xia's team sent out only half of the girls that night, because two large groups were drawing aggro, the pressure was actually lighter.

As for that level-four zombie's ambush? Couldn't they see the captain sitting right there? Even if he wasn't serving them egg fried rice anymore, there was no way a level-four zombie could get the better of them.

Come to think of it, the captain's egg fried rice really was delicious. Didn't some old saying go, once you've eaten egg fried rice, the more you eat, the more capable you become?

My father from the generation after 2000 clearly hadn't lied to me. That night, the girls fought the zombies with a ferocity that outshone one another, all for the chance to eat a few more mouthfuls of the captain's signature egg fried rice.

Perhaps having learned from last night's lesson, this night's level-four zombie was much smarter. It did not endure all the way to the end, but launched its attack suddenly within the first hour.

This was also the first time the Gale Team and the Tiger-Leopard Team had seen such a spectacular scene, and it was charging straight at them.

Many who had been drunk on hormones suddenly came to their senses and retreated again and again.

That thing could not be tackled head-on. Once you went in, you were done for.

At the front, Fang Xia's harem squad.

Twenty girls leaped out, one after another, and with practiced ease engaged the level-three zombies in sequence.

As for that level-four zombie, it died the quickest of all. Before it could even figure out what had happened, Fang Xia appeared beside it and took its head.

Seeing how powerful Fang Xia was, the other two teams were also greatly emboldened. The fat and thin captains shouted themselves hoarse, spurring on the morale of their members.

The two even rushed to the front lines, taking the lead themselves and setting an example.

Those two might not be much to look at, but they were at least captains of their own teams, and sizable ones at that. They were also genuine level-three fighters.

Fully equipped, with battle sabers and armor as standard issue, and with the level-four zombie already slain by Fang Xia, there truly were no other zombies left capable of harming them.

With the captains personally entering the fray, morale was greatly lifted. Compared with the previous few days, when every night had been a struggle for survival, today was far, far better.

Ten minutes of zombie rain, three hours of battle.

When it was over, each of the girls on Fang Xia's team could receive a can of eight-treasure porridge. That had already become a daily custom.

They had lived this way for more than a week, except for the night with Chef Xiao.

The girls were used to it and thought nothing of it, but the two neighboring teams could not bear it.

We were all brothers in the same trench. After a fight, who wasn't exhausted? So why do you still get a midnight snack to replenish your strength?

And this midnight snack was something they usually could only dream of.

No one could survive eating rice balls every day. Their mouths had become so bland they could taste nothing at all.

Even the joy of a great victory seemed not quite so joyful anymore.

The fat and thin captains hurried over with dark expressions.

"Captain Fang, this won't do. If you're going to hand it out, at least wait until you're back and do it in secret. What are we supposed to do with this?"

The two captains grew angrier the more they spoke, until tears almost streamed from their mouths.

"You two captains worked hard tonight."

Fang Xia quickly took two cans of eight-treasure porridge from his spatial storage, along with two bottles of yogurt.

"It's late. Some yogurt will help you sleep. I'll be going now. Next time, I'll make sure they pay attention."

And with that, Fang Xia slipped away.

The fat and thin captains hurriedly tucked away the porridge and yogurt in their hands.

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and clean the battlefield, then go home and sleep."

His newly found fourteenth wife was still waiting for him. He could just give her this yogurt and make her happy; who knew, maybe tonight she would unlock several more skills.

...

The second-floor living room.

The family sat together in neat order. Li Xiaochun had also come out of her room, and Li Qianwan was there as well.

"I have something important to tell everyone."

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Even the twin sister put down her sunflower seeds, since there were outsiders present and they had to keep up appearances.

A level-five zombie, plus a zombie siege—there was no point hiding something like that. Saying it in advance and making thorough preparations would only increase their chances.

After Fang Xia briefly explained the matter, the room fell silent at once.

Though his words were simple, the impact was far too great, and they needed time to absorb it.

"Brother Fang, you mean that in a few days, a level-five zombie will bring in hundreds of thousands of zombies and rush us?"

Fang Xia nodded.

"Hundreds of thousands is only an estimate. It could be even more."

No one could say exactly how many zombies were outside. Based on his experience from his previous life, every siege had involved more than three hundred thousand zombies.